Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Development
    • Development

    Enterprise Search Offerings: Microsoft Versus Google

    By
    Peter Galli
    -
    May 17, 2006
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Microsoft is ratcheting up its enterprise search offerings and is set to announce a new client-based application known as Windows Live Search as well as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search, a new server product.

      Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates will deliver the news during his keynote address at the 10th annual CEO Summit at the Redmond, Wash., campus May 17, said Jon Beighle, the general manager of Microsofts online services group, in an interview ahead of that speech.

      /zimages/6/28571.gifGates writes a memo to customers and partners to coincide with his keynote. Click here to read the e-mail.

      But this latest Windows Live Search client solution is not to be confused with the existing Windows Live Search product that is currently in beta and which allows Web search.

      While Microsoft has decided that, for branding purposes, it is going to give both products exactly the same name, the difference is that this new application is designed to extend the existing Web search to the client so users can search across their PCs for data.

      This latest search application will be made available as a free download to users, with the beta available in the second half of 2006 and final availability around the same time that the enterprise versions of Windows Vista and Office 2007 ship.

      /zimages/6/28571.gifTo read more about the debut of Windows Live Search, click here.

      “Today, Windows Live Search on the Web is a search engine with a rich user interface that allows Web search. The Windows Live Search client application will sit on your desktop and connect to Windows Live Search on the Web and your corporate search on your intranet,” Beighle said.

      The products thus work in combination to allow users to search for data and information across their desktops, the Internet and the corporate network, and deliver the results back into a single user interface that can be sorted through quickly and which allows action to be taken on the results, he said.

      “With Windows Live Search, users will be able to enter a search term into the search bar and then kick off a search across their PC, the Internet and the entire corporate network and, using SharePoint 2007 to connect, the search can reach down into a line of business data from Siebel and other systems as well as more unstructured data like documents that sit around the corporate network and bring all of that data information back to one place,” Beighle said.

      Users can then quickly flip through the search results and see the document or Web site in a preview pane that lets them find the information they need.

      This can then be dragged and dropped onto the desktop, sent to someone or opened, he said.

      “So you should think of Windows Live Search as a really lightweight, user-oriented interface on your desktop that lets you search multiple data sources,” Beighle said.

      With regard to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search, this new server product is targeted at mid-market customers and those departmental enterprises who just want the core SharePoint search functionality and not all the other portal and collaboration solutions it provides.

      /zimages/6/28571.gifTo read more about the host of Office 2007 suites Microsoft plans to release, click here.

      “For those who just want to search their intranet, this product will support the most common types of searches: looking at file servers, Web sites, Exchange Server, Lotus Notes and those kinds of things. It can also be extended to other data sources by third parties who can do custom connectors or by the company itself and is upgradeable to the full SharePoint Server 2007,” he said.

      It will be priced on a per-server license model; pricing has not been determined yet, but it will ship along with SharePoint 2007 in October, he said.

      Next Page: Focus on customers.

      Focus on Customers

      Asked if these new search offerings from Microsoft bring any capabilities that Google does not already offer, Beighle said that Microsoft is not benchmarking itself against what Google is doing but is focusing on its customer problems.

      “We are not focusing on search as an isolated topic but, rather, in light of the broader information management needs that customers have and how we can bring SharePoint and Windows Live Search to bear on those problems,” he said.

      On the question of whether enterprise customers have indicated a willingness to pay for search technologies, Beighle said customers know that they can get a lot more productivity out of their employees if they can make better decisions by getting the information they need more quickly.

      “Customers put a high value on that,” he said.

      Gates will also use his keynote speech to announce that Office SharePoint Server 2007, which provides capabilities around portals and collaboration and enterprise content management, business processes, intelligence and forms, will also bring something known as Knowledge Network.

      Read more

      here

      about SharePoint, which could be Microsofts sleeper hit.

      This is a capability that lets information workers tap into social networks and search for experts on particular topics.

      The way it works is that when a company implements Knowledge Network, it goes through and automatically profiles people based on the e-mail in their Outlook folders and the profile they set up of themselves on the Web.

      It then builds an automated profile, which users can look at, adjust and modify, Beighle said.

      “It also allows companies to integrate their corporate instant messaging systems or presence information into the results set so users can see which experts are immediately available to contact, and get the information they need right away,” he said.

      Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, views and analysis on enterprise search technology.

      Peter Galli
      Peter Galli has been a financial/technology reporter for 12 years at leading publications in South Africa, the UK and the US. He has been Investment Editor of South Africa's Business Day Newspaper, the sister publication of the Financial Times of London.He was also Group Financial Communications Manager for First National Bank, the second largest banking group in South Africa before moving on to become Executive News Editor of Business Report, the largest daily financial newspaper in South Africa, owned by the global Independent Newspapers group.He was responsible for a national reporting team of 20 based in four bureaus. He also edited and contributed to its weekly technology page, and launched a financial and technology radio service supplying daily news bulletins to the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which were then distributed to some 50 radio stations across the country.He was then transferred to San Francisco as Business Report's U.S. Correspondent to cover Silicon Valley, trade and finance between the US, Europe and emerging markets like South Africa. After serving that role for more than two years, he joined eWeek as a Senior Editor, covering software platforms in August 2000.He has comprehensively covered Microsoft and its Windows and .Net platforms, as well as the many legal challenges it has faced. He has also focused on Sun Microsystems and its Solaris operating environment, Java and Unix offerings. He covers developments in the open source community, particularly around the Linux kernel and the effects it will have on the enterprise.He has written extensively about new products for the Linux and Unix platforms, the development of open standards and critically looked at the potential Linux has to offer an alternative operating system and platform to Windows, .Net and Unix-based solutions like Solaris.His interviews with senior industry executives include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, the original developer of the Linux operating system, Sun CEO Scot McNealy, and Bill Zeitler, a senior vice president at IBM.For numerous examples of his writing you can search under his name at the eWEEK Website at www.eweek.com.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×